Screen sharing between computing devices has a myriad of practical applications. For one, screen sharing enables remote technical support. Another practical use is collaboration between a host and a viewer. A host can give a presentation to one or more remote viewers, perform demonstrations, review documents, and share images.
Numerous implementations of screen sharing presently exist. One well-known implementation is virtual network computing (VNC). VNC is a screen sharing system that enables a user to view and interact with another computer remotely over the Internet. VNC has two components: a server component and a client (i.e., viewer) component. User interface commands pass from the viewer computer to the remote computer, which sends back screen updates.
Like many screen-sharing implementations, however, setting up a VNC screen sharing system requires downloading and installing special software at one or both of the client and remote computer systems. Use of such client software can require changing the computer system's configuration or setting viewing preferences. Moreover, many standard and personal firewalls often block ports commonly used by some screen sharing systems, requiring an administrator to configure the firewalls explicitly to allow traffic on these ports. Still other screen-sharing systems are operating system dependent (e.g., MAC OS, Windows) and, therefore, are unable to gain widespread adoption.